Traditional history tells us that the first people who entered North America came across the Bering Sea, from Asia, and migrated South to the continent around 12,000 BC. But this date has often puzzled archaeologists who place the migration in South America to a much earlier date -- around 32,000 BC. How can these two dates be so far apart?

Since no traces of the Homo habilis or the Homo erectus could be found in America, Archeologists conclude that America must have been settled by the Homo sapiens sapiens about 12,000 years ago There are 4 main migration-hypothesies:

A) People came via the BERING SRAIT from Sibiria to Alaska;

B) People from SIBIRIA crossed the Northern Pacific and landed on the American coast;

C) People from POLYNESIA crossed the Pacific Ocean and landed either in Northern or Southern America;

D) People from EUROPE crossed either the Atlantic Ocean or came via Russia and Sibiria to America.

So far there is only evidence for the Bering Strait Theory (A).

Recently, scientists have started questioning the methods used to date artifacts and strata in the earth that support this early (12000 BC) date. The traditional method, Carbon-14, has been used with confidence since it is based on well known principles of physics. But while the method may be well understood, certain natural phenomenon may have interfered with the sites in the Northern Hemiphere and caused the readings of Carbon 14 to be inaccurate. Specifically, scientists now believe that a nuclear explosion or a similar event could have changed the chemistry of Carbon 14 thousands of years ago, throwing off the real dates by thousands of years!

A pattern of unusually young radiocarbon dates in the Northeast has been noted by researchers and this indicates that the entire Great Lakes region (and beyond) was subjected to particle bombardment and a catastrophic nuclear irradiation that produced secondary thermal neutrons from cosmic ray interactions. The neutrons produced unusually large quantities of 239 Pu and substantially altered the natural uranium abundance ratios ( 235 U/238 U) in artifacts and in other exposed materials including cherts, sediments, and the entire landscape. These neutrons necessarily transmuted residual nitrogen (14 N) in the dated charcoals to radiocarbon, thus explaining the anomalous dates.

The evidence from dated materials

Scientists investigated a cluster of especially young radiocarbon dates concentrated in the north-central area of North America. For example, at the Gainey site in Michigan a 2880 yr BC radio-carbon date was reported, while the thermoluminescence date (a different dating test) for that same site is 12,400 BC!

Other anomalous dates were found at Leavitt in Michigan, Zander and Thedford in Ontario, Potts in New York, Alton in Indiana, and Grant Lake in Nunavut. The Grant Lake Paleoindian site is most remarkable because its 160 BC age is fairly young, while adjacent and deeper samples give ages of 1480 to 3620 BC.

Archaeologists often date material according to the known dates for the layer in which it is found. Deeper levels are usually older than the layers near the top. When measurements contradict this rule (i.e. older layers are on top of younger layers) it indicates that something has happened to the material being measured, making it appear much younger than it really is. This is especially true if there is no other evidence that the layers have been disturbed or upturned, as with some geological event like an earthquake of tectonic plate movement. This is just what scientists found in the area around the Great Lakes.

The evidence from particle bombardment

Large quantities of micrometeorite-like particles appear to be concentrated near the boundary between the two layers that have conflicting dates. This suggests that some atmospheric event was responsible for the changes in C-14, and thus the dating errors.

These particles can be separated with a magnet and are identified by the presence of chondrules and by visual evidence of sintering and partial melting. The particles, dissimilar to common magnetites, are found in association with a high frequency of "spherules." Also, total gamma-ray counting of sediment profiles in the various locations invariably showed increased radioactivity at the boundary of these conflicting layers of sedement.

In other words, whatever happened to alter the Carbon-14 was produced in the atmosphere, was extremely hot and radioactive.

The tiny spherical particles were heated at an extremely high temperature during their high-speed entry into the atmosphere. The depth of penetration into the sedement layers implies that these particles entered with substantial energy. Simulations estimate a velocity of about 0.4 kilometers per second.

The evidence of this event is highest at the Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana sites and decreases in all directions from this region, consistent with a widespread catastrophe concentrated over the Great Lakes region. The nearly vertical direction of the tracks left by particle impacts at most sites suggests they came from a distant source (from space) and was not an atmospheric phenomenon near the Earth.

The evidence from uranium and plutonium

If a large cosmic-ray bombardment impacted the earth and irradiated the prehistoric landscape with thermal neutrons, the 235 Uranium/238 Uraniam ratio would be changed; 239 Pu would be produced from 238 Uranium capturing an extra neutron, followed by the decay of 239 Uranium. Neutrons colliding with nitrogen (1.83 barns) would create 14 C in exactly the same way 14 C is normally produced in the upper atmosphere, necessarily resetting the radiocarbon dates of any organic materials lying near the surface on the North American prehistoric landscape -- including charcoals at Paleoindian sites -- to younger values.

In other words, intense cosmic radiation from space would produce a bombardment of Carbon-14 atoms on the surface of the Earth. Since C-14 is lost over time, a higher C-14 reading would indicates a younger specimin while a lower C-14 level means an older specimin. This bombardment would cause an artificially higher reading of C-14 atoms when material was being tested and would result in a much younger age estimate.

But scientists also learn about what caused this bombardment by examining the Uranium 235 in the sedement. Compared to U-235 in surrounding area, the ration of U-235 under the region of the bombardment contained about 78 percent as much 235 U as the controls and later-period artifacts, suggesting substantial depletion. The depletion is caused by a bombardment of neutrons; therefore this depletion of 235 U necessarily indicates that thermal neutrons impacted these artifacts and the surrounding prehistoric landscape.

Chert is a glass-like material highly impervious to penetration by any nuclear fallout that might also contribute 239 Pu. Scientists analyzed a long-exposed piece of Bayport chert by gamma-ray counting at the LBNL low-background facility for the presence of cesium-137 ( 137 Cs), a key indicator of fallout (from nuclear testing), and found none. The anomolous layers typically lie sufficiently deep that contamination by fallout is improbable. It is important to note that fallout cannot explain the depletion of 235 U.

Redating North American sites

The 39,000 BC date proposed for the Gainey site is consistent with the prevailing opinion among many archaeologists about when the Americas were populated. It is also in agreement with dates for South American sites. The proposed date for the Gainey site also falls closer in line with the radiocarbon date for a Lewisville, Texas, Paleoindian site of 26,610 BC, and radio-carbon dates as early as 20,000 BC for Meadowcroft Rockshelter. Since the Lewisville and Meadowcroft sites were likely exposed at the same time to thermal neutrons, we estimate that their dates should be reset to 55,000 BC and 45,000 BC, respectively.

It is likely that Paleo-Indians occupied low latitudes during the full glacial and migrated to more northerly areas as the ice front retreated. Therefore the pattern of dates makes sense from the archaeologist's point of view. Dates for North American sites should generally be reset by up to 40,000 years, depending on latitude and overburden!

Geologists believe that before 15,000 BC, the Wisconsinan glaciation covered the more northerly locations where Paleoindian sites have been found. The ice sheet would have shielded the landscape and any artifacts from an irradiation. The modified dates for Paleoindian settlements suggest that the timetable for glacial advance sequences, strongly driven by conventional radiocarbon dates, should be revisited in light of the evidence presented here of much older occupations than previously thought."

The evidence from tree rings and marine sediments shows the event happened mainly to the Northern hemisphere.

A large nuclear bombardment should have left evidence elsewhere in the radio-carbon record. It is well known that radiocarbon dates are increasingly too young as we go back in time. The global Carbon Cycle suggests that 14 C produced by cosmic rays would be rapidly dispersed in the large carbon reservoirs in the atmosphere, land, and oceans. We would expect to see a sudden increase in radiocarbon in the atmosphere that would be incorporated into plants and animals soon after the irradiation; after only a few years, most of the radiocarbon would move into the ocean reservoirs. The 14 C level in the fossil record would reset to a higher value. The excess global radiocarbon would then decay with a half-life of 5730 years, which should be seen in the radiocarbon analysis of varved systems.

This occurrence can be dated precisely to 12,500 BC, an average of the remarkably consistent concentration peak centroids in the Greenland ice core data. Significant increases at that time are not found in comparable data for the Antarctic, which indicates that the cosmic ray irradiation was centered in the Northern Hemisphere. Weak evidence of an occurrence at 12,500 BC is seen in the radiocarbon record for marine sediments near Venezuela, confirming that the cosmic ray bombardment was most severe in northern latitudes.

Lunar cosmogenic data also show evidence of increased solar cosmic ray activity at or before 20,000 BC, although these data are not sensitive to earlier irradiation.

Could it have been a supernova?

Sonett suggests that a single supernova would produce two or three shock waves, an initial forward shock and a pair of reverse shocks from the initial expansion and a reflected wave from the shell boundary of a more ancient supernova. A candidate for the reverse shock wave is the supernova remnant North Polar Spur, with an estimated age of 75,000 years and a distance of 130 parsecs (424 light years), conveniently located in the north sky from where it would have preferentially irradiated the Northern Hemisphere. Assuming the Taylor flux is average and 1,000 neutrons are produced per erg of gamma-ray energy, the catastrophe would have released about 10^16 erg/cm 2 (2 x 10^8 cal/cm 2 ), corresponding to a solar flare of 10^43 ergs or a gamma-flash of 10^54 ergs from a supernova about 1 parsec away.

The geographical distribution of particle tracks, 235 U depletion, and 239 Pu concentration are quite consistent, although the particle tracks seem to be confined to a smaller geographic area. They indicate energy released over the northeastern sector of the U.S., with maximum energy at about 43 degrees N, 85 degrees W, the Michigan area of the Great Lakes region.

A history of suspected cosmic cataclysms over the ages

*Some scientists have proposed, based on the existing record of solar flare intensities, that solar flares as large as 3 x 10^38 ergs should be expected every 100,000 years.

*Other scientists estimate that supernovas release 10^47 Ð10^50 ergs within 10 parsecs of Earth every 100 million years.

*One scientist suggests that a supernova impacted the earth in Paleoindian times. This is supported by evidence from the 14 C tree ring record that supernova #SN1006, which occurred at a distance of 1300 par-secs, produced a neutron shower of 2 x 10^8 n/cm 2. Other research shows evidence of the past six nearby supernovae from the thermoluminescence record of Tyrrhenian sea sediments.

So was it a supernova or a solar Coronal Mass Ejection?

Whatever it was, the Paleoindian catastrophe in 12,500 BC was large by standards of all suspected cosmic occurrences.

We know that normal geomagnetic conditions would usually focus cosmic rays towards the magnetic poles, concentrating their severity in those regions. However, low magnetic field intensity during a geomagnetic excursion may have allowed excessive cosmic rays to strike northeastern North America, as was the case with this event. If this was the case, did the event happen during a perid of of reduced magnetic polarity?

Scientists tell us that a severe solar flare could cause the Earth's magnetic field (and ionosphere) to collapse. So it is possible that the collapse happened as a result of the bombardment of radiation.

Many scientists believe that the size of the initial catastrophe may be too large for a solar flare, but a sufficiently powerful nearby supernova or cosmic ray jet could account for it. It also is possible that the catastrophe could have initiated a sequence of events that may have included solar flares, impacts, and secondary cosmic ray bombardments.

A devastating effect on Earth

The enormous energy released by the catastrophe in 12,500 BC could have heated the atmosphere to over 1000¡C over Michigan, and the neutron flux at more northern locations would have melted considerable glacial ice. Radiation effects on plants and animals exposed to the cosmic rays would have been lethal, comparable to being irradiated in a 5-megawatt reactor more than 100 seconds.

The overall pattern of the catastrophe matches the pattern of mass extinction before Holocene times. The Western Hemisphere was more affected than the Eastern, North America more than South America, and eastern North America more than western North America. Extinction in the Great Lakes area was more rapid and pronounced than elsewhere. Larger animals were more affected than smaller ones, a pattern that conforms to the expectation that radiation exposure affects large bodies more than smaller ones. Sharp fluctuations of 14 C in the Icelandic marine sediments at each geomagnetic excursion are interesting; because global carbon deposits in the ocean sediments at a rate of only about 0.0005 percent a year, a sudden increase in sediment 14 C may reflect the rapid die-off of organisms that incorporated radiocarbon shortly after bombardment.

Massive radiation would be expected to cause major mutations in plant life. Maize probably evolved by macro-mutation at that time, and plant domestication of possibly mutated forms appears worldwide after the Late Glacial period. For example, there was a rapid transition from wild to domesticated grains in the Near East after the catastrophe.

Implications for future study

Much of what we assume about the Paleoindian period and the peopling of the Americas has been inferred from conventional radiocarbon chronology, which often conflicts with archaeological evidence. This work mandates that conventional radio-carbon dates be reinterpreted in light of hard terrestrial evidence of exposure of the radiocarbon samples to a cosmological catastrophe that affected vast areas of North America and beyond. A nuclear catastrophe can reset a group of unrelated artifacts to a common younger date, creating gaps and false episodes in the fossil record. Geographical variation and complicated overburdens may further confuse the interpretation. Scrutiny of Paleoindian artifacts and the North American paleolandscape, associated stratigraphic sediments, coupled with continued radiological investigations, may provide more evidence for the cosmic catastrophe and new clues to the origin of Paleoindians.

Ancient Amazon civilisation laid bare by felled forest

Uncovering civilisation

Signs of what could be a previously unknown ancient civilisation are
emerging from beneath the felled trees of the Amazon. Some 260 giant
avenues, ditches and enclosures have been spotted from the air in a region
straddling Brazil's border with Bolivia.

The traditional view is that before the arrival of the Spanish and
Portuguese in the 15th century there were no complex societies in the Amazon
basin – in contrast to the Andes further west where the Incas built their
cities. Now deforestation, increased air travel and satellite imagery are
telling a different story.

"It's never-ending," says Denise Schaan of the Federal University of Pará in
Belém, Brazil, who made many of the new discoveries from planes or by
examining Google Earth images. "Every week we find new structures." Some of
them are square or rectangular, while others form concentric circles or
complex geometric figures such as hexagons and octagons connected by avenues
or roads. The researchers describe them all as geoglyphs.

The geoglyphs are thought to date from around 2000 years ago up to the 13th
century (Image: Edison Caetano)
The geoglyphs are thought to date from around 2000 years ago up to the 13th
century

Garden villages

Their discovery, in an area of northern Bolivia and western Brazil, follows
other recent reports of vast sprawls of interconnected villages known as
"garden cities" in north central Brazil, dating from around AD 1400. But the
structures unearthed at the garden city sites are not as consistently
similar or geometric as the geoglyphs, Schaan says.

"I firmly believe that the garden cities of Xingu and the geoglyphs were not
directly related," says Martti Pärssinen of the Finnish Cultural and
Academic Institutes in Madrid, Spain, who works with Schaan. "Nevertheless,
both discoveries demonstrate that [upland] areas of western Amazonia were
heavily populated much before the European incursion."

The geoglyphs are formed by ditches up to 11 metres wide and 1 to 2 metres
deep. They range from 90 to 300 metres in diameter and are thought to date
from around 2000 years ago up to the 13th century.

Human habitation

Excavations have unearthed ceramics, grinding stones and other signs of
human habitation at some of the sites but not at others. This suggests that
some had purely ceremonial roles, while others may also have been used for
defence.

Unusually for defensive structures, however, earth was piled up outside the
ditches, and they are also highly symmetrical. "When you think about defence
you're just building a wall or a trench," says Schaan. "You don't have to do
calculations to make it so round or square." Many of the structures are
oriented to the north, and the team is investigating whether they might have
had astronomical significance.

"Many of the great early civilisations had a riverine basis and the Amazon
has long been underestimated and overlooked in that sense," says Colin
McEwan, head of the Americas section at the British Museum in London.

Successful societies

Though there is no evidence that the Amazonians built pyramids or invented
written language as societies in ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia did, "in terms
of a trend towards increasing social complexity and domestication of the
landscape, this wasn't just a pristine forest with isolated nomadic tribes",
McEwan adds. "These were substantive, sedentary and in the long term very
successful cultures."

While some Inca sites lie just 200 kilometres west of the geoglyphs, no Inca
objects have been found at the new sites. Neither do they seem to have
anything in common with Peru's Nasca geoglyphs.

"I have no doubt that this is only scratching the surface," says Alex
Chepstow-Lusty of the French Institute for Andean Studies in Lima, Peru.
"The scale of pre-Columbian societies in Amazonia is only slowly coming to
light and we are going to be amazed at the numbers of people who lived
there, but also in a highly sustainable fashion. Sadly, the economic
development and forest clearance that is revealing these pre-Columbian
settlement patterns is also the threat to having enough time to properly
understand them."

source  Journal reference: Antiquity, vol 83, p 1084

It was on the banks of the Savannah River in Allendale County where Al Goodyear in 2004 found the clues of an ancient civilization that could rewrite the history books.

They uncovered what appeared to be cutting tools and stone chisels used by humans that existed an estimated 37,000 years before the earliest-known inhabitants, known as the Clovis culture. It was a discovery that rocked the archaeological community and generated international media attention.

"The entire Western Hemisphere is coming under closer scrutiny," Goodyear said. "Everything that I was taught as a student is breaking down rapidly."

Then, in 1998, Goodyear decided to dig deeper. He and a rotating group of scientists and volunteers uncovered evidence of a pre-Clovis culture well below the level at which the Clovis artifacts were found.

Goodyear and his group will be back in May for five weeks, offering volunteers the opportunity to work alongside archaeologists and researchers in their quest to debunk the long-held theory that man arrived in North America around 13,000 years ago.

"After I retired, I became fascinated with archaeology and decided to go and get my hands dirty," he said. "After the first dig, I was hooked."

"It's absolutely fantastic," he said.

As we each move through our individual lives on this planet, we come in contact with seemingly innocence trivia, that later we often reflect upon as being something that changed our life in one way or another. Also, some of us often think of God, The Creator (or whatever name we choose) as distant from us, unable for us to actually see Him, except we are told He is always with us. "They" must mean around us, within us, or something like that. These are my words - you the viewer probably have your own words and thoughts. We have run onto something that we think our viewers might consider interesting. So, here it is. You make your own judgments and thoughts. But, we feel it is acccurate, correct and if we were to take the same trip, (we would love to!) we probably would have similar feelings and thoughts - the only difference perhaps would be the visions we would see may be different due to our background and experiences. But then, we are each different (thank God) and that is the way it is. These experiences are of Jerry Wills, whose web site you can go to later. Obviously it is impossible to show a picture of the entire universe(s) on this tiny page. To us this shows how small we all are - but an important part of the whole!�

The Doorway of Aramu Muru, located within the Hayu Marca mountain region of southern Peru and about 35 Km from Puno, has long been revered by local Indians as the "Place of the Gods". This area has not been fully explored due to the rugged mountain terrain. Many of the rock formations found here resemble artificial structures. Jerry: "My experience here has been fantastic! I believe I have actually been through the doorway, traveling into another dimension past the universe." On November 11th, 1998 at about 10 pm Kathy Wills and others in attendance witnessed Jerry Wills vanish for a short time. Upon his return, Jerry described his experience as a voyage beyond time and space and past the known universe to a place where the universe is kept in balance by a supreme presence. Although it is impossible to validate what happened when Jerry vanished, it is certain that he was gone for a short time. See below for Jerry's experience.

The Aramu Muru Doorway

The doorway is indeed located where the story indicates. And while this is a remote region, it is not so remote that people don't live nearby. Reading the story you are led to believe the location is quite well hidden. This is not entirely true. It is only a short walk from the highway that continues on to the Peru - Bolivia border. Those living nearby farm the fields right in front of the doorway and throughout the area. They in the area are a closed group that do not welcome outsiders and keep to themselves, never giving the (now) frequent visitors any trouble. They simply watch as you explore the surrounding area and examine the cliff face where the door is located. They have known of this place for a very long time.The doorway isn't large as one can see by the picture. It is actually shorter (yet wider) than most common doorways you find in any western home. It is unusual, though. Those who live in this area do not go there after dark. Following is Jerry's story:

Closer picture of doorway

There have been those who have witnessed powerful events here - unexplainable events that have frightened them. For example, tall men, sometimes preceded by or accompanied by glowing blue or orange balls of light, have been seen walking through or appearing near the doorway (glowing ). These have been seen continuing on to the shore of Lake Titicaca or some other undisclosed location. On other occasions, figures have been seen to return to the doorway and silently vanish. For those who live here, there is no question who these visitors are. Legends tell them clearly it is the return of ancient gods. Examining the doorway and the outcropping of rock it is placed upon reveals nothing more than the obvious. This unusual rock outcropping is roughly 60' thick, jutting upward like the fin on a fish, to a height of about 40.' A portion of the "cliff wall" has been prepared to a smooth surface. To the left and right of the doorway there are semi circular indented columns that go almost to the top of the wall. In the middle is the doorway - small in comparison to the wall, yet large enough for a "normal" sized individual to almost stand upright in (I use the term normal here because I am almost 7� tall). The doorway is indented about 8". The interesting thing about the shape of the doorway is its footer. There are two obvious places that have been smoothed and indented. The spacing is exactly right if you were to kneel before the doorway as if in prayer. At the exact place you would rest your forehead, if you were to lean forward, is a cupped depression. Otherwise, this is solid stone with the doorway exactly oriented and opening to the West.

from DreamScape Website

• The Hopi believe the Creator of Man is a woman. The Sumerians believed the Creator of Man was a woman.
   

• The Hopi believe the Father Creator is KA. The Sumerians believed the Father Essence was KA.
   

• The Hopi believe Taiowa, the Sun God, is the Creator of the Earth. The Sumerians believe TA.EA was the Creator.
   

• The Hopi believe two brothers had guardianship of the Earth. The Sumerians believed two brothers had dominion over the Earth.
   

• The Hopi believe Alo to be spiritual guides. The Sumerians believed AL.U to be beings of Heaven.
   

• The Hopi believe Kachinas (Kat'sinas) are the spirits of nature and the messengers and teachers sent by the Great Spirit. The Sumerians believed KAT.SI.NA were righteous ones sent of God.
   

• The Hopi believe Eototo is the Father of Katsinas. The Sumerians believed EA.TA was the Father of all beings.
   

• The Hopi believe Chakwaina is the Chief of Warriors. The Sumerians believed TAK.AN.U was the Heavenly Destroyer.
   

• The Hopi believe Nan-ga-Sohu is the Chasing Star Katsina. The Sumerians believed NIN.GIR.SU to be the Master of Starships.
   

• The Hopi believe Akush to be the Dawn Katsina. The Sumerians believed AK.U to be Beings of light.
   

• The Hopi believe Danik to be Guardians in the Clouds. The Sumerians believed DAK.AN to be Sky Warriors.
   

• The Hopi believe Sotunangu is a Sky Katsina. The Sumerians believed TAK.AN.IKU were Sky Warriors.
   

• The Hopi name for the Pleaides is ChooChookam. The Sumerians believed SHU. SHU.KHEM were the supreme Stars.
   

• The Hopi believe Tapuat is the name of Earth. The Sumerians believed Tiamat was the name of Earth.
   

• The Hopi call a snake Chu'a. The Sumerians called a snake SHU.
   

• The Hopi word for "dead" is Mokee. The Sumerians used KI. MAH to mean "dead."
   

• The Hopi use Omiq to mean above, up. The Sumerians used AM.IK to mean looking to Heaven.
   

• The Hopi believe Tuawta is One Who Sees Magic. The Sumerians believed TUAT.U was One from the Other World.
   

• The Hopi believe Pahana was the Lost Brother who would one day return to assist the Hopi and humankind. The Sumerians would recognize PA.HA.NA as an Ancestor from heaven who would return.

The Web source for this article is no longer active. It was originally attributed to Robert Morningsky.

Superstitions & Folklore of the South

Charles W. Chesnutt

DURING A recent visit to North Carolina, after a long absence, I took occasion to inquire into the latter-day prevalence of the old-time belief in what was known as "conjuration" or "goopher," my childish recollection of which I have elsewhere embodied into a number of stories. The derivation of the word "goopher" I do not know, not whether any other writer than myself has recognized its existence, though it is in frequent use in certain parts of the South.

The origin of this curious superstition itself is perhaps more easily traceable. It probably grew, in the first place, out of African fetichism, which was brought over from the dark continent along with the dark people. Certain features, too, suggest a distant affinity with Voodooism, or snake worship, a cult which seems to have been indigenous to tropical America. These beliefs, which in the place of their origin had all the sanctions of religion and social custom, become, in the shadow of the white man's civilization, a pale reflection of their former selves. In time, too, they were mingled and confused with the witchcraft and ghost lore of the white man, and the tricks and delusions of the Indian conjurer. In the old plantation days they flourished vigorously, though discouraged by the "great house," and their potency was well established among the blacks and the poorer whites. Education, however, has thrown the ban of disrepute upon witchcraft and conjuration. The stern frown of the preacher, who looks upon superstition as the ally of the Evil One; the scornful sneer of the teacher, who sees in it a part of the livery of bondage, have driven this quaint combination of ancestral traditions to the remote chimney corners of old black aunties, from which it is difficult for the stranger to unearth them. Mr. Harris, in his Uncle Remus stories, has, with fine literary discrimination, collected and put into pleasing and enduring form, the plantation stories which dealt with animal lore, but so little attention has been paid to those dealing with so-called conjuration, that they seem in a fair way to disappear, without leaving a trace behind. The loss may not be very great, but these vanishing traditions might furnish valuable data for the sociologist, in the future study of racial development. In writing, a few years ago, the volume entitled The Conjure Woman, I suspect that I was more influenced by the literary value of the material than by its sociological bearing, and therefore took, or thought I did, considerable liberty with my subject. Imagination, however, can only act upon data-one must have somewhere in his consciousness the ideas which he puts together to form a connected whole. Creative talent, of whatever grade, is, in the last analysis, only the power of rearrangement -- there is nothing new under the sun. I was the more firmly impressed with this thought after I had interviewed half a dozen old women, and a genuine "conjure doctor"; for I discovered that the brilliant touches, due, I had thought, to my own imagination, were after all but dormant ideas, lodged in my childish mind by old Aunt This and old Uncle That, and awaiting only the spur of imagination to bring them again to the surface. For instance, in the story, "Hot-foot Hannibal," there figures a conjure doll with pepper feet. Those pepper feet I regarded as peculiarly my own, a purely original creation. I heard, only the other day, in North Carolina, of the consternation struck to the heart of a certain dark individual, upon finding upon his door-step a rabbit's foot -- a good omen in itself perhaps -- to which a malign influence had been imparted by tying to one end of it, in the form of a cross, two small pods of red pepper!

Most of the delusions connected with this belief in conjuration grow out of mere lack of enlightenment. As primeval men saw a personality behind every natural phenomenon, and found a god or a devil in wind, rain, and hail, in lightning, and in storm, so the untaught man or woman who is assailed by an unusual ache or pain, some strenuous symptom of serious physical disorder, is prompt to accept the suggestion, which tradition approves, that some evil influence is behind his discomfort; and what more natural than to conclude that some rival in business or in love has set this force in motion?

Relics of ancestral barbarism are found among all peoples, but advanced civilization has at least shaken off the more obvious absurdities of superstition. We no longer attribute insanity to demoniac possession, nor suppose that a king's touch can cure scrofula. To many old people in the South, however, any unusual ache or pain is quite as likely to have been caused by some external evil influence as by natural causes. Tumors, sudden swellings due to inflammatory rheumatism or the bites of insects, are especially open to suspicion. Paralysis is proof positive of conjuration. If there is any doubt, the "conjure doctor" invariably removes it. The credulity of ignorance is his chief stock in trade -- there is no question, when he is summoned, but that the patient has been tricked.

The means of conjuration are as simple as the indications. It is a condition of all witch stories that there must in some way be contact, either with the person, or with some object or image intended to represent the person to be affected; or, if not actual contact, at least close proximity. The charm is placed under the door-sill, or buried under the hearth, or hidden in the mattress of the person to be conjured. It may be a crude attempt to imitate the body of the victim, or it may consist merely of a bottle, or a gourd, or a little bag, containing a few rusty nails, crooked pins, or horse-hairs. It may be a mysterious mixture thrown surreptitiously upon the person to be injured, or merely a line drawn across a road or path, which line it is fatal for a certain man or woman to cross. I heard of a case of a laboring man who went two miles out of his way, every morning and evening, while going to and from his work, to avoid such a line drawn for him by a certain powerful enemy.

Some of the more gruesome phases of the belief in conjuration suggest possible poisoning, a knowledge of which baleful art was once supposed to be widespread among the imported Negroes of the olden time. The blood or venom of snakes, spiders, and lizards is supposed to be employed for this purpose. The results of its administration are so peculiar, however, and so entirely improbable, that one is supposed to doubt even the initial use of poison, and figure it in as part of the same general delusion. For instance, a certain man "swelled up all over" and became "pieced," that is, pied or spotted. A white physician who was summoned thought that the man thus singularly afflicted was poisoned, but did not recognize the poison nor know the antidote. A conjure doctor, subsequently called in, was more prompt in his diagnosis. The man, he said, was poisoned with a lizard, which at that very moment was lodged somewhere in the, patient's anatomy. The lizards and snakes in these stories, by the way, are not confined to the usual ducts and cavities of the human body, but seem to have freedom of movement throughout the whole structure. This lizard, according to the "doctor," would start from the man's shoulder, descend to his hand, return to the shoulder, and pass down the side of the body to the leg. When it reached the calf of the leg the lizard's head would appear right under the skin. After it had been perceptible for three days the lizard was to be cut out with a razor, or the man would die. Sure enough, the lizard manifested its presence in the appointed place at the appointed time; but the patient would not permit the surgery, and at the end of three days paid with death the penalty of his obstinacy. Old Aunt Harriet told me, with solemn earnestness, that she herself had taken a snake from her own arm, in sections, after a similar experience. Old Harriet may have been lying, but was, I imagine, merely self-deluded. Witches, prior to being burned, have often confessed their commerce with the Evil One. Why should Harriet hesitate to relate a simple personal experience which involved her in no blame whatever?

Old Uncle Jim, a shrewd, hard old sinner, and a palpable fraud, who did not, I imagine, believe in himself to any great extent, gave me some private points as to the manner in which these reptiles were thus transferred to the human system. If a snake or a lizard be killed, and a few drops of its blood be dried upon a plate or in a gourd, the person next eating or drinking from the contaminated vessel will soon become the unwilling landlord of a reptilian tenant. There are other avenues, too, by which the reptile may gain admittance; but when expelled by the conjure doctor's arts or medicines, it always leaves at the point where it entered. This belief may have originally derived its existence from the fact that certain tropical insects sometimes lay their eggs beneath the skins of animals, or even of men, from which it is difficult to expel them until the larvae are hatched. The chico or "jigger" of the West Indies and the Spanish Main is the most obvious example.

Old Aunt Harriet-last name uncertain, since she had borne those of her master, her mother, her putative father, and half a dozen husbands in succession, no one of which seemed to take undisputed precedence-related some very remarkable experiences. She at first manifested some reluctance to speak of conjuration, in the lore of which she was said to be well-versed; but by listening patiently to her religious experiences-she was a dreamer of dreams and a seer of visions -- I was able now and then to draw a little upon her reserves of superstition, if indeed her religion itself was much more than superstition.

"W'en I wuz a gal 'bout eighteen er nineteen," she confided,

On another occasion, Aunt Harriet's finger swelled up "as big as a corn-cob." She at first supposed the swelling to be due to a felon. She went to old Uncle Julius Lutterloh, who told her that some one had tricked her. "My Lawd!" she exclaimed, "how did they fix my finger ?" He explained that it was done while in the act of shaking hands. "Doctor" Julius opened the finger with a sharp knife and showed Harriet two seeds at the bottom of the incision. He instructed her to put a poultice of red onions on the wound over night, and in the morning the seeds would come out. She was then to put the two seeds in a skillet, on the right hand side of the fire-place, in a pint of water, and let them simmer nine mornings, and on the ninth morning she was to let all the water simmer out, and when the last drop should have gone, the one that put the seeds in her hand was to go out of this world! Harriet, however, did not pursue the treatment to the bitter end. The seeds, once extracted, she put into a small phial, which she corked up tightly and put carefully away in her bureau drawer. One morning she went to look at them, and one of them was gone. Shortly afterwards the other disappeared. Aunt Harriet has a theory that she had been tricked by a woman of whom her husband of that time was unduly fond, and that the faithless husband had returned the seeds to their original owner. A part of the scheme of conjuration is that the conjure doctor can remove the spell and put it back upon the one who laid it. I was unable to learn, however, of any instance where this extreme penalty had been insisted upon.

It is seldom that any of these old Negroes will admit that he or she possesses the power to conjure, though those who can remove spells are very willing to make their accomplishment known, and to exercise it for a consideration. The only professional conjure doctor whom I met was old Uncle Jim Davis, with whom I arranged a personal interview. He came to see me one evening, but almost immediately upon his arrival a minister called. The powers of light prevailed over those of darkness, and Jim was dismissed until a later time, with a commission to prepare for me a conjure "hand" or good luck charm, of which, he informed some of the children about the house, who were much interested in the proceedings, I was very much in need. I subsequently secured the charm, for which, considering its potency, the small sum of silver it cost me was no extravagant outlay. It is a very small bag of roots and herbs, and, if used according to directions, is guaranteed to insure me good luck and "keep me from losing my job." The directions require it to be wet with spirits nine mornings in succession, to be carried on the person, in a pocket on the right hand side, care being taken that it does not come in contact with any tobacco. When I add that I procured, from an equally trustworthy source, a genuine graveyard rabbit's foot, I would seem to be reason- ably well protected against casual misfortune. I shall not, however, presume upon this immunity, and shall omit no reasonable precaution which the condition of my health or my affairs may render prudent.

An interesting conjure story which I heard, involves the fate of a lost voice. A certain woman's lover was enticed away by another woman, who sang very sweetly, and who, the jilted one suspected, had told lies about her. Having decided upon the method of punishment for this wickedness, the injured woman watched the other closely, in order to find a suitable opportunity for carrying out her purpose; but in vain, for the fortunate one, knowing of her enmity, would never speak to her or remain near her. One day the jilted woman plucked a red rose from her garden, and hid herself in the bushes near her rival's cabin. Very soon an old woman came by, who was accosted by the woman in hiding, and requested to hand the red rose to the woman of the house The old woman, suspecting no evil, took the rose and approached the house, the other woman following her closely, but keeping herself always out of sight. When the old woman, having reached the door and called out the mistress of the house, delivered the rose as requested, the recipient thanked the giver in a loud voice, knowing the old woman to be somewhat deaf. At the moment she spoke, the woman in hiding reached up and caught her rival's voice, and clasping it tightly in her right hand, escaped, unseen, to her own cabin. At the same instant the afflicted woman missed her voice, and felt a sharp pain shoot through her left arm, just below the elbow. She at first suspected the old woman of having tricked her through the medium of the red rose, but was subsequently informed by a conjure doctor that her voice had been stolen, and that the old woman was innocent. For the pain he gave her a bottle of medicine, of which nine drops were to be applied three times a day, and rubbed in with the first two fingers of the right hand, care being taken not to let any other part of the hand touch the arm, as this would render the medicine useless. By the aid of a mirror, in which he called up her image, the conjure doctor ascertained who was the guilty person. He sought her out and charged her with the crime which she promptly denied. Being pressed, however, she admitted her guilt. The doctor insisted upon immediate restitution. She expressed her willingness, and at the same time her inability to comply-she had taken the voice, but did not possess the power to restore it. The conjure doctor was obdurate and at once placed a spell upon her which is to remain until the lost voice is restored. The case is still pending, I understand; I shall sometime take steps to find out how it terminates.

How far a story like this is original, and how far a mere reflection of familiar wonder stories, is purely a matter of speculation. When the old mammies would tell the tales of Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox to the master's children, these in turn would no doubt repeat the fairy tales which they had read in books or heard from their parents' lips. The magic mirror is as old as literature. The inability to restore the stolen voice is foreshadowed in the Arabian Nights, when the "Open Sesame" is forgotten. The act of catching the voice has a simplicity which stamps it as original, the only analogy of which I can at present think being the story of later date, of the words which were frozen silent during the extreme cold of an Arctic winter, and became audible again the following summer when they had thawed out.

printed in Modern Culture, volume 13. 1901.

Ants resonate deep in our psyches as archetypal denizens of dual worlds: the earth plane and the Underworld. Both linguistic and mythological evidence indicates, however, that the image of ant-like anthropoids is more than a psychological reaction to the tiny Formicidae of the natural world. Why else would the mass media consistently give ETs the characteristics of bugs? Unlike the vague phantasms of dreams, Ant People appear terrifyingly real.

If these creepy creatures are an extinct or isolated terrestrial species like Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster, we have yet to uncover any fossil or skeletal evidence of their past existence.

Were the Ant People (nemâlâh) actually the progeny (called Nephilim) of women who mated with rebel angels? Did an emissary from Orion, whose name means ant, come to Arizona in order to become Masau'u, the ant-like god of the Hopi? Were the Ant People willing to save the virtuous humans from two different natural cataclysms because the former saw the genetic reflection of themselves in the latter? Were the kiva-like caves in which the Hopi found refuge really the anthills of ancient star beings? These questions may in the end be unanswerable. Nevertheless, the implications keep us intrigued.

Excerpt from The Orion Zone: Ancient Star Cities of the American Southwest Copyright © 2006 by Gary A. David. All rights reserved.

Gary A. David is an independent researcher and writer living in northern Arizona. The Orion Zone: Ancient Star Cities of the American Southwest is now available from Adventures Unlimited Press. This book discusses a correlation between the stars of Orion and the Hopi villages and ruins in the Four Corners region of the US. Recently Mr. David’s articles have appeared in Atlantis Rising, Fate, and World Explorer magazines. He is also a published poet.

African Gold in Illinois?

A cave that Russell Burrows claims to have discovered in 1982 allegedly contained inscribed gold and stone artefacts, human remains and a golden sarcophagus that has been linked to the Mauritanian king Juba II.

(Below: Gold artefacts from the Burrows Cave, clearly showing Egyptian or Egyptian-inspired marks on the gold. � Russell Burrows.)

Recorded by Charles Coteworth Pinckney
Delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787

This prophecy, by Benjamin Franklin, was made in a "CHIT CHAT AROUND THE
TABLE DURING INTERMISSION," at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention of
1787. This statement was recorded in the dairy of Charles Cotesworth
Pinckney, a delegate from South Carolina.

"I fully agree with General Washington, that we must protect this young
nation from an insidious influence and impenetration. The menace, gentlemen,
is the Jews.

"In whatever country Jews have settled in any great number, they have
lowered its moral tone; depreciated its commercial integrity; have
segregated themselves and have not been assimilated; have sneered at and
tried to undermine the Christian religion upon which that nation is founded,
by objecting to its restrictions; have built up a state within the state;
and when opposed have tried to strangle that country to death financially,
as in the case of Spain and Portugal.

"For over 1,700 years, the Jews have been bewailing their sad fate in that
they have been exiled from their homeland, as they call Palestine. But
gentlemen, did the world give it to them in fee simple, they would at once
find some reason for not returning. Why? Because they are vampires, and
vampires do not live on vampires. They cannot live only among themselves.
They must subsist on Christians and other people not of their race.

"If you do not exclude them from these United States, in their Constitution,
in less than 200 years they will have swarmed here in such great numbers
that they will dominate and devour the land and change our form of
government, for which we Americans have shed our blood, given our lives our
substance and jeopardized our liberty.

"If you do not exclude them, in less than 200 years our descendants will be
working in the fields to furnish them substance, while they will be in the
counting houses rubbing their hands. I warn you, gentlemen, if you do not
exclude Jews for all time, your children will curse you in your graves.

"Jews, gentlemen, are Asiatics, let them be born where they will nor how
many generations they are away from Asia, they will never be otherwise.
Their ideas do not conform to an American's, and will not even thou they
live among us ten generations. A leopard cannot change its spots. Jews are
Asiatics, are a menace to this country if permitted entrance, and should be
excluded by this Constitutional Convention."

-Benjamin Franklin, 1787, at The Constitutional Convention, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania

The Mayan calendar is NOT an instrument for tracking the procession of time as previously thought, but as a meter and measure of the evolution of human consciousness.

The Next Nine Years

A thought-provoking analysis of the
Mayan Calendar according to Ian Lungold


Carl J. Calleman Ph.D., is a biochemical scientist from Sweden. For 30 years he has worked in labs performing microbiology experiments. Most of his work was investigating how pollution causes disease to proliferate. Eight years ago he trained his attention on the Mayan calendar to see what correlations or sets of facts could be proven not just "studied" as the archeologists have done. What he uncovered with his newfound "hobby" is quickly changing the world and the way we live with it. Dr. Calleman has scientifically proven the Schedule of Creation and Evolution over the last 16.4 billion years (from the Big Bang forward).

Dr. Calleman has lectured about the Mayan calendar in nine different countries and was one of the main speakers at the conference about the Mayan calendar organized by the Indigenous Council of the Americas in Merida, Yucatan, 1998. He is the author of Maya-hypotesen (in Swedish, 1994), Solving the Greatest Mystery of Our Time: The Mayan Calendar (Garev, Coral Springs and London, 2001)from which interested readers may gain a more extended background to the ideas presented in this article, and a forthcoming book in English, Enlightenment: The Mayan Calendar as Our Guide to the Future (Acalan, Albuquerque, 2003).


Mr. Ian Lungold entered the scene for his discovery of a simple formula to find any day on the Mayan calendar from the Gregorian calendar thereby providing access to the Mayan calendar for every man, woman and child on Earth. Dr. Calleman and Lungold are working together to expose this vital information. Dr. Calleman is in Europe and Asia and Lungold has the American continents as his responsibility.

Why the Mayan Calendar?

Why should anyone be interested in the Mayan calendar? We have the Gregorian calendar? Isn't one calendar enough? Perhaps not.

Our culture, as opposed to indigenous cultures, is cut off from our natural surroundings and to the "Natural Cycles" of life. One could say we are fixated or even addicted to convenience and glitz. Probably less than 5% of the people you know could tell you what phase the moon is in. Our mental disconnection from the underlying patterns of our evolvement as the human race has caused an increasing unbalance of emotion. We exhibit this with crime, pollution and wars. As a result, Mother Earth's upset is expressed in "weird weather" such as earthquakes and volcanoes, simply because we are not paying attention anymore!

If we seriously want to heal our relationship with Mother Earth, we must spend some "quality time" paying attention to these natural cycles. Doing things like watching a moonrise, sitting through a sunset, or finding North, South, East and West from where you are now. These are natural cycles.

Anyone who takes an interest in the ancient culture of the Maya will soon realize that this people had an understanding of time which was vastly different from our own, and many have come to use it for their own spiritual evolution.

The Gregorian calendar (and many calendars from other cultures) is basically tied to agriculture, i.e., helping people to keep track of the agricultural year. For agricultural reasons, it has been necessary to arrive at a very exact estimate of the astronomical year and to keep each day of the year frozen with regard to the position the earth is in during its orbit around the sun. Such a calendar is useful for telling us when to sow and harvest, etc.

The ancient peoples of this planet, however, also had a divine calendar which was founded on the 360 day year. The Maya totally ignored the solar cycle as the center of their consciousness. All Mayan calendar dates, including personal birthdays, dedications, and most sacred ceremonial events were measured in 360 day periods called tuns (pronounced "tunes.")

According to the Maya, each day in Creation has its own sacred energy and purpose. There are 260 different combinations of 20 different Day Lord Energies or "Sacred Sun Signs" (light energy sent by the Sun), and 13 different Galactic Energies or "Tones" sent as light frequencies from the Central Sun of our galaxy. The Central Sun of our galaxy is The One Giver of Movement and Measure.

Each of the Day Lords - or "Sacred Sun Signs" - has a personality and each of the Galactic Energies - or "tones" - have a purpose or intent. This combination gives each day a "personality" and "intent." By following the days on the Mayan calendar, you become entrained or synchronized with the natural cycles that are timed by this calendar. Thus your time becomes more natural and less mechanical. No sweat, no strain, just flow of attention on what day it is.

But the Mayan calendar has even broader and more profound implications.

As the true meaning of the calendar is solved, it becomes clear that we are living in a creation that evolves according to a pre-set schedule, i.e., the Maya were keeping track of the flow, rate, and intent of Creation itself or the evolution of consciousness throughout Creation.

You have heard that history repeats itself. This is now proven fact.

There is a repeating pattern to all of Creation. Quantum physics has proven this over and over in the organization of matter. There is a pattern of intentions and events, as well. We - or rather Consciousness - have been down this same road seven times before over the last 16 billion years. Each of these cycles of Creation runs 20 times faster than the last one. The same amount of Creation is paced 20 times tighter. This is why time seems to be going so fast. It is not "time" but Creation itself that is accelerating.

There are scheduled impulses on the part of Creation that are affecting global events today, and during the next nine years until the Mayan calendar ends near 2012.

What Does the Mayan Calendar Mean to Us?

It means that we will have the capability to see the patterns and flow of interest and action across humanity. Consciousness is becoming more aware of who and what it is. Consciousness is opening the door to see how we all work together - AS ONE - to manifest or create our own reality.

If you are able to pay attention to the unfolding pattern of Creation, this is what you will be conscious of. The speed of change and the continued disclosure of the nature of Creation will become a stabilizing force in your existence - not a confusing tumble of cause and effect, accident and loss.

There is a formula that goes like this: "Peace of Mind" comes when persons or a society are "centered." Centered-ness comes from certainty. Certainty comes from only one place: the recognition of patterns. So when a person or society has recognized a pattern as great as all of Creation, there is great certainty and centered-ness - and there is great Peace of Mind.

This is our challenge: to educate humanity that the changes scheduled as per the Mayan calendar are for the uplifting of all. They are the sure steps of the continued evolution of Consciousness and the increase in personal choice of experience.

Details of the Mayan Calendar

The actual pattern of Creation described by the Mayan calendar looks like a pyramid which consists of nine levels or cycles. The bottom level or cycle in the pyramid represents the longest period of time, i.e., 16.4 billion years ago and is called the Cellular level of Creation (first live cells). The second level or cycle from the bottom of the pyramid is 20 times shorter, i.e., 840 million years ago and is called the Mammalian level of Creation (first live births).

Continuing up the pyramid in this fashion with each level becoming 20 times shorter than the latter, the third level ,i.e., 41 million years ago is the Family level (family relationships). The fourth level, i.e., 2 million years ago, is the Tribal level (Homo Sapiens/tools). The fifth level, i.e., 102,000 years ago is the Cultural level (agriculture/religion). The sixth level, i.e., 5,116 years ago is the National level (sovereign nations/laws). The seventh level, i.e., 1755 AD is the planetary level (internet/global economy). The eighth level, January 4, 1999, is the Galactic level (ethical considerations). And the ninth level, i.e., February 10, 2011, is the Universal level (conscious co-creation).

Here is a quick run through of the previous cycles and the consciousness that each level produced:

Cellular cycle - beginning 16.4 billion years ago, developed the consciousness of Action/Reaction.

Mammalian cycle - beginning 820 million years ago, developed the consciousness of Stimulus/Response.

Familial cycle - beginning 41 million years ago, developed the consciousness of Stimulus/Individual Response.

Tribal cycle - beginning 2 million years ago, developed the consciousness of Similarities/Differences.

Cultural cycle - beginning 102,000 years ago, developed the consciousness of Reasons.

National cycle - beginning in the year 3115 B.C., developed the consciousness of Law.

Planetary cycle - beginning in the year 1755 A.D., developed the consciousness of Power.

Galactic cycle - beginning January 5, 1999, developing the consciousness of Ethics.

Universal cycle - beginning February 10, 2011, will be developing the unlimited ability of Conscious Co-Creation.

Looking at the timing and the product of each of the nine cycles listed above, we can see an orderly progression of the development of consciousness and our abilities to interact with the universe.

During the First cycle, all of the physical laws, chemical compounds, star fields, then solar systems and planets were developed.

In the Second cycle, individual cells which were the product of the Cellular cycle started developing stimulus/response and the survival mechanism. Stimulus/response differs from action/reaction in the amount of consciousness present.

The Third cycle was the recognition of individual consciousness and the establishment of the family relationship (recognition of individuals) rather than a herd, school or flock mentality.

In the Fourth cycle, consciousness developed the tool, which we call "The Mind" to detect the similarities and differences in our experience.

During the Fifth cycle, the leading edge of consciousness was developing reasons for any and every thing. These "Shared Reasons," are the basis of all culture.

In the Sixth cycle, the concept of law or right and wrong developed.

In the Seventh cycle, which is from 1755 A.D. to present, we have been gathering power derived from natural laws.

Each time that this pattern has repeated it has done so 20 times faster than the previous cycle.

This quite handily explains why time seems to be speeding up. Time is not speeding up. It is creation itself that is speeding up with more and more happening in less and less time.

We now know exactly where we are in this repeating pattern. This information makes it possible to put forth educated guesses as to the content of our future. This is similar to using a map when you are traveling. In this case, we now have a roadmap of time, consciousness and events. Our newsletter, The 3rd Night News, is intended to present insights as to what the Mayan calendar predicts our consciousness will be experiencing.

As of January 5, 1999 we started the Galactic cycle which is the 8th of 9 levels of consciousness described by the Mayan calendar. Each of the stages or days and nights of this cycle last for 360 days each. We are now, as of December 10, 2003, in the 360-day section called the 3rd Night. This section will end on December 4, 2004. On December 5, 2004, we will begin what is called the 4th day of this Galactic cycle.

In the rest of this article, I will be discussing what the Mayan calendar indicates our experience will be during the 3rd Night.

It is now, during the 8th Level - Galactic cycle, that the consciousness of ethics has come forward and can be seen to be further organizing the powers that now exist to ensure the continued survival and evolution of the human race and our playground Mother Earth. So here we are with Ethics overriding Power in this 8th - Galactic consciousness cycle.

What we see around us in the world and the society in which we live, is the exposure of lie after Powerful lie built on top of layers of lies.

Uncovering a lie enables the TRUTH. While this can be very disorienting or disquieting it is very much an exercise of consciousness and should be recognized as such. As this process continues we will come to fully realize that each of us individually is the basis of truth. You are the truth (you the spiritual being) and whatever you have experienced are only reflections.

About two months ago, I received an insight concerning the timing of the Galactic cycle's - 7 Days and 6 Nights. It came to me that since each of these days and nights consisted of 360 days and since a clock face is also a 360 degree measuring device, that the two could be used together to show the processions of the Galactic cycle as "hours." 1 Day is 24 hours, I simply divided 360 by 24, which equals 15. That means that every 15 days that happened on the Gregorian calendar, are a one "hour" tick on the face of an a.m./p.m. 24-hour clock of the Galactic cycle's 3rd Night. Now what we can do is look back at the previous 3rd Night and see what took place at each "hour" to get a good read on what we might experience during this 3rd Night.

Each of the "hours" during the previous Planetary Cycle, running from 1755, were 300 days long each, that is they were 20 times longer than the current 15 day hours.

So what does this mean to us?

This can best be understood by using the metaphor of planting a seed.

During the First Day there is the seed itself--an inception, a new beginning or impetus to change or flow in a new direction where new perceptions become available. That if followed by the First Night which is an opportunity to apply the enlightenment just received from Creation's flow. This would be the germination of the seed planted in the dark soil or the developments of new points of view.

The Second Day is when duality is put on display. The seed sprouts up out of the ground and displays two leaves. The essential duality is always a new viewpoint that is overriding the "old" consciousness. As it has come down in human history, this has always been a time of civil turmoil. We have just completed the Second Night of the Galactic cycle from December 19, 2001, to December 14, 2002. The Second Night is a period of dark when polarized factions come to blows over their differences.

The Third Day is another period of Light. The seed's root system develops and the second set of leaves will be a permanent part of the plant. It is the establishment of the new consciousness as viable. In human history lies or failed systems are disclosed so that progress is not blocked. Hold onto your hat as the truths pour forth from mid 2002 through most of 2003. The Third Night is another period of Dark. The seedling set of leaves are dropped from the plant as another set of leaves spring from the top. These are at 90 degrees from the last set. In human history failed systems have been jettisoned, usually by force, during this section.

The Fourth Day, another period of Light and in a plant's life, the tap root grows deep to firmly attach the plant while the stock thickens and branches form. It is a period of expansion of the foundations laid. In human history the "new" point of view and way of doing things takes dominance. For instance the empire of Greece was built during this section. The Fourth Night is a period of Dark once again or the application of new procedures. During this time a plant is multiplying its leaves and root system like mad. In human history it has usually been a period of rebuilding and a time of healing.

The Fifth Day is a period of Light and, in fact, is the brightest period of light in the entire cycle. In a plant's life this is when new chemicals are produced that carry the message to form buds. In human history, it was this section when Art was invented, the message of Jesus moved over the earth, Mr. Einstein discovered the theory of relativity and when America rose to world power with the victory of WWI. The Fifth Night or period of dark that follows is also the darkest period of each cycle.. In a plant's life this is the growth of the bud. In your history, this was puberty. In all of human history this has been a time of great physical hardship or major conflicts, i.e., the Ilionian Ice Age, the Neanderthals going extinct, Rome falling, and WWII are glaring examples.

The Sixth Day we return to a period of "Enlightenment." This is the time of flowers for the plant. For you personally, it was adolescence. In human history this was the creation of the first tools, the first attempts at agriculture and constructed shelter, the Renaissance and, most recently, the Flower Children Movement of the 60's. The Sixth Night, one last period of Dark in the cycle follows. In the plant's life the flowers wilt and die setting the stage for fruit development or of seedpods that will dry. This is what happened to the Maya civilization right on queue. Throughout human history there have been conflicts and revolts during this period, the most recent of these having been the Viet Nam War.

The Seventh Day is once again a period of Light, a time of readiness for something new and different, a time of ascension or going from one level to the next higher level. The plant spreads the seeds or drops the fruit to begin again a thousand times over. In human history it was during these repeating sections that Consciousness developed Homo Sapiens, agriculture and domesticated herds, signed treaties to establish the sovereignty of nations and their people, and put up the Internet thereby creating a planetary consciousness in 1992.

This pattern of Creation, an action plan, can be seen happening everywhere in the universe--from subatomic particles to galaxies. Over and over: "As above, so below." Notice that we go from a Light section to another new Light section. In other words, after the seventh day, there is no seventh night? We begin the next cycle with another day. So, you see the deck is stacked. Creation is on our side and always has been.

It is also important to note that this chart in no way conflicts with either the Creationist or Evolutionist points of view. In fact, it marries the two. No matter how uncomfortable that concept may be at the outset, the facts that Creation has evolved are indisputable because that evolution and schedule continues today. In fact, the evolution of all consciousness has accelerated to such a degree that we can watch it unfold step by step as in time-lapse photography.

To "shed even more light" (pardon the pun), on the events that occur during the days and nights of a particular cycle, let's use the Sixth Cycle or National Cycle as an example and use religious development as our "event" taking place during each one of the 13 sections or Seven Days and Six Nights. Only, in this instance, we are going to focus primarily on the Days of this cycle since the Days are the periods of enlightenment when new perceptions are gained by Consciousness.

The First Day of the National Cycle occurred from 3115 BC to 2721 BC. This was the time that the Sumerians worshipped An or Anu. Anu was seen as an omnipotent Creator God who had to share his space with a host of household, workplace, weather and nature gods of all kinds.

The Second Day of the National Cycle occurred from 2326 BC to 2938 BC. During this section Abraham moved to Cana in 2300 BC.

The Third Day of the National Cycle was from 1538 to 1144. This was the time of Moses and the beginning of Monotheism (The Truth coming into sharper focus).

The Fourth Day of the National Cycle was from 749 BC to 355 BC. Isaiah was from the year 748 BC; Buddha from 552 BC; Confucius from 551 BC; Zoroaster from 550 BC; Pythagoras from 550 BC, Deuteron- Isaiah from 550 BC.

The Fifth Day of the National cycle was from 40 AD to 434 AD. During this period Paul took the message of Jesus to the world and Christianity was born. Buddhism started in China in 60 AD and the Talmudic and Judaism religions began at this time. In 40 AD Quetzalcoatl, the Maya Creator god, appeared in Teotihuacán as a Christ-like personage with a very similar message. (The Fifth Night of the National Cycle occurred from 434 AD to 829 and was when Islam was inspired in 632 AD.)

The Sixth Day of the National Cycle was from 829 AD to 1223 AD. At this time there was a general expansion of Christianity to Northern and Eastern Europe. The Crusades and the development of the Papacy happened here as well as the second Quetzalcoatl where in the Maya/Toltec city of Chichen Itza walked the earth. (The Sixth Night was when the second wave of Islam came in from 1223 AD to 1617 AD.)

The Seventh Day of the National Cycle occurred from 1617 AD to 2011 AD. During this period, Christianity expanded once again starting with the Pilgrims in 1620 AD.) We could go through other events such as scientific principles, communication methods, the development of political ideals, and we would see that the developments in each field conform to this same schedule. In fact, everything we know of what happened when follows this schedule. There is no mistake. This is no 16.4 billion year-long coincidence!

Future Implications

So, what are the implications for our future? Let's take another look at where we fall on the Mayan calendar. As we have shown earlier, we are now in the Eighth Level or Galactic Cycle of the calendar. Each of the 13 sections or each Day and Night consists of 360 days. And we are now entering the Third Day. What typically happens during the Third Day? If we look at the Third Day in each of the other cycles, we can see that a very important shift in the progression of the evolution of our consciousness takes place. Remember, this is where in the plant the development of a root system and second set of leaves will become a part of the plant. In human history it is during this section that lies or failed systems are disclosed so that progress is not blocked. It is where truths are going to pour forth from mid 2002 to 2003.

During the Cellular Cycle's Third Day, Consciousness on the level of action/reaction or atomic mind, was receiving the inspiration to organize from clouds of stars into galaxies. During the Mammalian Cycle's Third Day, there was the Cambrian Explosion, an underwater explosion of evolution where soft-tissue animals were evolving into all sorts of hard-shelled animals at a tremendous rate. The truth about the use of calcium as a survival tactic became known to Consciousness at this time.

During the Familial Cycle's Third Day, the monkeys that had shown up in the First Day of this cycle evolved into the first tailless apes, Pliopithecus, Drophecus and Ramapithecus appeared. This was a direct step away from "all fours and a tail living" and toward Homo erectus.

During the Tribal Cycle's Third Day, Neanderthal man came into being all around the Mediterranean and dotting Europe. During the National Cycle's Third Day, there was Moses and the Ten Commandments as well as geometry and astrology developed by the Babylonians. The Book of the Dead was collected in Egypt, the Stonehenge was built, and obelisks in Egypt were used as clocks. It was the start of the Bronze Age and the four basic elements became known in India as earth, air, fire and water. In other words, certain facts came out during these times that were very basic to our understanding of life today.

During the Planetary Cycle's Third Day, there was the Abolitionist Movement to end slavery, the first telegraph messages, the first bike and first steam-powered vehicle. Armand Fizeau discovered the speed of light. Carl Steinheil built the first electric clock. Railroads were complete across all major countries and the first negative photography was done. In short, the Industrial Revolution gook a giant step forward with the advent of electricity and steam power. Also the discovery of gold in California started a migration from all over the world that really set humanity in motion.

In sum, the Third Day of each cycle, including our current Galactic cycle, is the statement of the truth for the coming changes in evolution of the organization, structure, function, innovation, knowledge, power and to come soon) the ethics of Consciousness in our three dimensional universe. The foundations of these changes are built during the Fourth Day of each cycle and manifested on the Fifth Day of each cycle. During the Sixth Day of each cycle there are the blooming or vast advancements of the intent of the cycle. Finally, during the Seventh Day of each cycle a new cycle is born to begin the next stage of evolution's overall intent.

The intent of the Evolution of Consciousness is to rejoin our Creator as co-creators in exactly his image, as himself, as our true selves. During the Galactic Cycle's Third Day we will be seeing the true value of ethics and integrity like never before. The truth will be in your face at every turn. "Good" truth and "bad" truth will be on display everywhere as well as the most blatant lies you could ever imagine choosing to believe.

Consciousness is getting an up-grade and we will be able to watch it happen. As in any birth or rapid growth there are some pains, so expect them. This is the time that your intuition will be held up and shown to be trustworthy. It will be a time when Truth and Ethics in all situations will become the most important factor. And whether or not that truth is told and ethics are present will be just as important as any outside appearances, circumstances, or events. Basically we are now going to be given a clear view of the final choice of a future - EVOLUTION or EXTINCTION. We all have free will. We all have the choice. Most of us have already made that choice by the beginning of this Galactic Consciousness Cycle on January 4, 1999. That's right. You can see who has chosen which in your own personal and business relationships, can't you?

There's a Train Wreck A-Comin'

As we have said, we have just gone through the Second Night of the Galactic Cycle, which contained the impact between the new consciousness that is now running and the previous consciousness cycle. The previous cycle is called the Planetary consciousness cycle because it produced a planetary consciousness with the development of telecommunications and the internet. This whole cycle of 256 years has been about the development of POWER. From 1755 AD up to today, Consciousness has been applied to developing means of empowerment over the environment and each other with machines and weapons of mass destruction. This is commonly known as the Industrial Revolution.

The new Galactic consciousness cycle which began on January 4, 1999, is one based on ETHICS, the definition of which is "the deft application of power." At the outset, these two types of consciousness were directly opposed. There will be a train wreck. Once the pieces have been reassembled, the power that we now have at our disposal will be applied in an ethical manner for the benefit of all, not just a few. Those few are desperate and running from the light of new consciousness.

The Second Night (June 17, 2002) was the point at which we started moving toward the day. The Third Day then will demonstrate an unfolding of TRUTH - the truth about the extreme measures used by those in power to remain in those positions will be fully exposed. The Third Night (December 9, 2003)is about application of the TRUTH or truths. The truths, in this case, will bring about the dissolving of Nations as a power base or as a reason for contention anywhere. Put another way, during the Cultural cycle there were certain groups of people whose reason for living was to be Israelis; Palestinians; Hindus, Moslems. Now, there is nothing wrong with possessing cultural beliefs, unless you believe that your cultural belief is the ONLY belief and that all other beliefs are bunk.

America is a plot of ground no more important than Africa or Asia. We should have no more privilege than anyone else on earth. Nationalism is becoming extinct. It happened to the dinosaurs. And it happened to the Neanderthals. The wheels of the power train are going to leave the tracks. This is a process, however, and not to be taken personally.

Also, be careful not to assume an attitude that some of us are better than others. It only means that the people in power are going to get more and more frantic as these changes occur and will either have to change their ways or be run over. It is a fact that ethical consciousness must be in place before we can go into the consciousness of co-creation. Right now, do you trust your neighbor to be able to create anything he wants in your back yard? Obviously we are not there yet.

A New Question

All of Consciousness has had one goal in its evolution, to discover what it is NOT.

Consciousness experiences the universe by comparison. The basic comparison is that the conscious is NOT whatever was experienced. For at least 100,000 years mankind has been pursuing the question, "Who am I?" Or, "Why am I here?" and "What am I doing?" That question has been used by the Church and State to bind people to some standard or another, to some identity or another, to one belief system or another. Consciousness is none of these things. There are only the considerations of Consciousness.

We are not our bodies, our minds, our jobs, cars, relationships, nor our reputations or even our aspirations. As the Mayan calendar clearly shows, Creation is speeding up and presenting more and more of itself in each moment. This means that more and more is possible to be experienced and compared by Consciousness.

The Mayan calendar ends on October 28, 2011, by which time Creation's exposure rate will have accelerated such that it presents itself in total, all in one moment thus ending any and all considerations of time and space as any barrier to Consciousness.

The path to this moment leads us through the Galactic consciousness cycle that we are currently in to the Universal consciousness cycle that begins on February 10, 2011. In this 260 day period, Consciousness will be experiencing more and more of what it is NOT until the certainty sets in that we are indeed - NO THING!

Start answering the new question, "What am I not?" today and watch your existence change forever. Let's look at this process in a little more detail to help us realize more fully what is happening in this time and space.

In the past, you may have had the possibility of only three things happening in a given moment, i.e., a good outcome, a bad outcome, and an outcome somewhere in between.

At present, there are more and more opportunities available to you, more and more choices. Creation is speeding up. This will continue until it is totally possible to create any reality you can imagine! In comparison to 180 years ago, today we're wizards. In the future, there will be even more possibilities. Consider teleportation, genetic research, nanoscale technologies and the prospect of molecular computing. Life will be very different. People will be losing their jobs because by the time we have produced a product and get ready to market it, it will have become obsolete. Sound familiar?

There will be massive changes in the way we do business. Imagine a person 100 years ago trying to your job today, coupled with the changes in our economy will come changes in our monetary system.

The beginning of the Seventh Day of the Planetary cycle in 1992 brought the beginning of a very long period of uninterrupted growth in the West and especially the US. This period of growth actually took place in a situation that is new in the history of the world economy in that there was no gold standard in effect. In the 90's, economic policy seemed very successful as a number of innovations in the computer industry and telecommunications created a mental confidence in a growth that would go on forever.

We should notice a parallel here between the Days ruled by Ometeotl in both the National and Planetary cycles. During the Seventh Day of the National cycle, paper money came into use in the West, which meant an abstraction from real values. When the Seventh Day of the Planetary cycle began, as a further step, this paper money lost all relations to real values - in this case, gold. In this way, the world economy has come to be based on a monetary system, which, as we concluded earlier, is basically worthless. What is behind this pattern to begin with? It is well known that the purpose of disconnecting the value of money from gold when economic depressions begin is exactly to keep the wheels of industry turning with artificial means (disconnecting from real values). What is less well known is that these depressions came about as results of the mental effects of the Nights in the Mayan calendar.

As human industrial creativity increases at the beginning of new Days, on the other hand, there is a risk of overheating and hence there has then been a tendency to reinstate the gold standard to keep things grounded. Regardless, the effects of abolishing the gold standard for long periods, and a number of mechanisms in banking that I will not go into, are that today's monetary system is a mental construct floating in the air based on the "confidence" people have in it. Simply stated, we began eons ago by exchanging things of value, i.e., sticks and rocks. During the Cultural cycle we advanced to prettier rocks, i.e., gold, silver, gems. During the National cycle we got paper money and a banking system. Now we have an economy based on electrons and plastic cards. The medium of exchange has gotten less and less physical. The stock market goes up and down by how people are THINKING about it!

What will be the medium of exchange in the future? It will have evolved into a spiritual exchange to that which is admired. Particles of admiration. Love. That's all you were ever doing in the first place. How much was a blanket worth? As much as you admired it. Its true value was based upon your admiration.

Humanity will be investing in what is admirable and nothing else. Your TRUTH, your ETHICS, your INTEGRITY is what will sustain you through all the changes. Therefore, you must have the courage to create what you wish to experience. You will be able to take advantage of the opportunities. Those people without integrity, will bring upon themselves what their own consciousness is focused on, their own FEAR and their own JUDGEMENT. That's what's going to happen down here - JUDGEMENT DAY. All this boils down to decision time. You can decide to stay on the power train and hunt down the almighty dollar. Or, you can choose integrity.

New planets by the hundreds will be discovered in our galaxy which are revolving around other suns planets that support life. We have the planetary consciousness with the internet of now being able "to meet the neighbors." And we will as soon as we get over this power trip and get an ethical consciousness. Can you see us going to other galaxies before then? All we would do is "kick butt." No, we're not ready yet.

What was the lesson of Y2K back on January 5, 1999? The lesson was that maybe our power systems aren't all that trustworthy - not all that real. That everything could have disappeared in a blink of an eye. The message from Consciousness was that our ability to handle change is what counts. We, not our systems, are responsible for what happens.

Ethical truths will be fully exposed during the Fourth Day, and put into effect during the Fourth Night (November 2005) and the application of this truth will not be so very gentle. During the National cycle, during the Fifth Day, Christ showed up and gave us the consciousness that we were Divine - like the rulers in Rome. We didn't need anybody to create policies for us. In the most recent Fifth Day we discovered the blueprint of our physical reality. We live in an infinite universe where everything is possible. We have both the blueprint and the proof. We already have teleportation.

We already have daily telepathy. We're in an age of nano computers where we can program nanos to create molecular size computers. We can teleport light. Things are happening faster than they thought ahead of schedule. Genetics all the human DNA studies have been completed 15 years ahead of schedule. Huge corporations are teetering and will fall because they can't help us. By the time we research and develop a product, it's extinct. We're dealing in physical stuff.

However, Consciousness is not physical. The possibilities of Consciousness are not limited by time and space. During the flowering of the plant, during your time of puberty, humanity was experiencing the Renaissance in France. It is a time of the Flower Children, God of Flowers, King Arthur and the Round Table, and the Anasazi's Golden Time. Maya, as well, flowered. Flowers died to become seed pods or fruit. Development during the Sixth Night dies out and spews out all the seeds on the Seventh Day.

After decision time, there will be no more "I can't do this," no more control over anybody else. Then and only then can we "meet the neighbors," and they can't get to us either. The whole three dimensional universe is going to be going through this at the same time. Other dimensions have already gone through this. We're separated on purpose through the plan. Technology will go extinct and Spirit will take over. There will be no more sickness, lack, hunger. Consciousness is already creating this. We will be experiencing this. During the Sixth Night, a 360 day period, we will be experiencing BLISS, liberation, and be in a period of experimentation and getting ready for what is to come.

From 2006-2011 there will be a time of healing. It is a time of manifestation, of completion. During the Seventh Day, we won't necessarily be on the planet. We will be able to travel anywhere. We will have entered the Universal cycle. The last 260 days of this 360 day period we are supposed to get up to speed to experience all of infinity with our consciousness. This concept doesn't fit into our brain yet.

Would you like to be out of debt? There will be a different economy where there is only abundance. You will possess the confirmed knowledge that you are Divine. You will be able to demonstrate that everything is possible. There will be the complete absolution of any limit. Currently technology is our ladder to Consciousness. But the internet and television are soon going to be outpaced.

Have you noticed that things are already changing rapidly? That stuff is falling off? Stuff like jobs, positions, identities, spouses. This is because we're getting a running start at becoming God - of entering a state of BLISS.

October 28, 2011 will be like trying to go through the eye of a needle. Remember the Bible story where Jesus said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven."? Where this saying comes from is that in ancient cities there were robbers on camel routes. The walls to the cities were high, the doorways narrow. You had to unload your camel to get through the eye of the needle.

And what this means to us is that we must get unloaded from who we thought we were. We are not a machinist, not a computer specialist, etc. We must ask ourselves: "What am I NOT?" I'm not my house, not my car, not my relationships. We are NO THING. Once we realize this, it will be pretty easy to go through the eye of a needle then.

We are raising our vibrations to change our cellular memory. What you pay attention to is what will occur. We will be co-creators of new reality. We will not be disempowered. To the contrary; we will be able to empower ourselves. In this process, remember that Creation is totally on our side. There is more opening to Consciousness in this process than there is difficulty. Remember, there are more days than nights.

There will be dramatic changes to Mother Earth. There will be more drastic weather as TRUTH comes forward. In the application of the Truth, we will feel the effects of the sun, of earthquakes, volcanoes, drought, of these natural changes by degrees, stages. It will take such things as natural disasters to get us to stop fighting and stop fighting quickly. There will be new mountain ranges, new structures. Earth is going to change dramatically. It has done so before, but then it was a slower process.

Remember, the Earth's surface used to be under water. There is evidence of shells in our cliffs. Where Are You Safe? You will be safe if you stay focused on your INTUITION and look to it for guidance. Think of 9/11 and the people who got through this and similar disasters. They got through because they KNEW the right thing to do. And so will you. It might be wise to check out where people like the Hopi are and be where they are. Maybe they know something we don't (laughter). There will be places that are not going to be touched much. Stay away from cities and away from the coasts. Our coastlines will be shrinking due to global warming, the glaciers melting quickly. Water levels will be rising quickly on the coasts. If you have coastal property, SELL! (laughter)

We cannot emphasize too much that it is important to remain detached and to not get caught up in the drama that is unfolding all around you. It is so important to remember especially at times of great dramatic impact that your safety lies within. Your answers lie within. You can access this knowing at any time. It is a feeling that you feel. Something will feel "right" or it will feel "off" or "wrong." Trust your feelings. Don't let anyone talk you out of them.

Deception will be everywhere and on the increase from its present levels. That is why we emphasize that you go within for your "news." Everything is being manipulated to such an extent that nothing you read or hear is untouched, except possibly some of the material that comes through the clearest channels. Your inner knowing is your best armor against deceptions. If something does not feel altogether true for you, TRUST that feeling. You must also trust in the plan for your life. Your life will bring you into perfect contact with the experiences needed for the fulfillment of your life's plan. Even those things that you might consider painful, unpleasant, or undesirable are still moving you toward the goal of completion. If unpleasant feelings arise, allow them to FLOW through you. Do not RESIST or block them. This does not mean you have to act on them. Just allow them to flow through you.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, just close your eyes and focus on your breath (unless, of course, you are doing something like driving a car). Deliberately take slow, deep breaths until you have regained a sense of your own self and are calm, grounded, and centered. Then very slowly open your eyes again and let yourself remain calm, grounded, and centered. Allow yourself to witness what is going on around you without getting caught up in it. There is nothing you can't handle if you remain rooted in the moment, in what is also called the NOW.

Think on the principle of the gyroscope. It is a centered axle with change all around it. The faster the change, the more stable the gyroscope. This is the basic benefit of the new information on the schedule of Creation. It allows a person to achieve the recognition of pattern, on a scale unprecedented in our human history. If you are able to pay attention to the unfolding pattern of Creation, this is what you will be conscious of. The speed of change and the continued disclosure of the nature of Creation will become a stabilizing force in your existence.

Our challenge, your challenge (if you choose to accept it), is to educate humanity that the changes scheduled as per the Mayan calendar are for the uplifting of all. They are the sure steps of the continued evolution of Consciousness, the increase in personal choice of experience and a return of personal absolute sovereignty. It is not the "end of times," the coming of a disastrous "event," but rather the beginning of a New Age, an evolving of a new Consciousness.


Ian Xel Lungold is a leading researcher of the Maya and their calendar systems. He is also a contributing author, artist, and speaker as well as the developer of the Mayan Calendar Conversion Codex.

You may link to this page by using ~ http://www.paulapeterson.com/New_Revelations_Mayan_Calendar.html ~ Thank you!

A system of tunnels and caves beneath Ecuador and Peru is reputed to hold an ancient treasure-house of artefacts including two libraries, one containing inscribed metal books and the other storing tablets of crystal.

Expedition plans and setbacks
Jaramillo and Hall wanted to combine forces to see whether the Metal Library could be opened; one knew the location, the other had a proven track record in organising proper expeditions. It would be the "expedition of occupation".
First, contact with various ambassadors and politicians was established; then the scientific community was brought in. The plan was for Jaramillo to lead the team to the site, where they would remain for a period of three to four months (during the dry season), cataloguing the contents of the site and guaranteeing that nothing went missing. Everything would remain in situ. A report with recommendations would be the only outcome of this expedition, which would involve UNESCO. But in 1995, Peruvian jets bombed an Ecuadorian military base and the project had its first setback.
In 1997, Hall used a major anthropology conference to promote the idea. Six anthropologists came to meet him, interested in what he was trying to accomplish. But that same year, Ecuador's political regime changed (in Hall's opinion, for the worse); Hall felt that his family could not live in the new political reality, so he moved back to Scotland with them. (Shortly afterwards, our paths would cross anonymously). This was nevertheless not a setback; planning for the expedition continued.
However, it was in 1998 that the expedition had a major setback. Hall received by telephone the sad news from the mother of Petronio Jaramillo that he had been assassinated. Was he murdered because of the plans that were afoot? Life in South America is cheap, as anyone who has visited or lived there knows. That day, Jaramillo was carrying a large amount of money on him. It was a street robbery, close to his home. Random violence stopped one of the world's biggest discoveries dead in its tracks.
It seems that fate only allowed for Jaramillo and Hall to meet, but never to work together�as if their combined efforts would break the spell of the cave and turn a dream into a reality.

Though Hall never learned the location from Petronio Jaramillo himself, after Jaramillo's death in May 1998 Hall organised a trip with Mario Petronio, Jaramillo's son, in which both combined their knowledge about the site. The trip had to be abandoned before "point zero" could be reached.
In May 2000, Hall returned.
"When we were preparing the expedition in the 1990s, whenever diving equipment was discussed as a necessity Petronio would say that even though it [the entrance to the cave] was under the river, it did not mean we would get wet."
Hall showed me aerial maps, pointing out a bend in the river that meets a fault line, which is known to open up into a cave system that runs for several miles. His suggestion is that the fault line�evidence of an ancient earthquake�opened up the underground network, which someone at some stage in the distant past then discovered and used as a place to install the metallic library. Hall had visited this location and deduced that it fits Jaramillo's description perfectly.

If you think the Great Pyramid in Egypt is a technological marvel, wait until you see what artists and engineers were doing in Tiahuanaco. This culture thrived at the breathless elevation of about 13,000 feet. They managed to somehow move stones weighing up to 200 tons and invented modular building techniques that would even today, be cutting edge.

The most famous icon of the archaeological site at Tiahuanaco is the Sun Gate. This has been described as a "calendar" almost as long as the monolithic gateway has been known to exist; thus the Sun Gate has also been called 'the Calendar Gate'. This calendar sculpture, though it undoubtedly depicts a "solar year," cannot however be made to fit into the solar year as we divide it at present. The calendar has only 290 days, divided into 12 "twelfths" of 94 days each, plus 2 intercalary days.

Some researchers have attempted to explain this as being a ritualistic calendar while others have claimed that, 14,000 years ago, the length of a year was somehow different from today. Still others believe that it may represent a year on some another planet.

Extraterrestrial connections were first suggested by Eric von Danken and have been perpetuated by discoveries of the apparent advanced knowledge that Tiahuanacan engineers seemed to possess -- thousands of years ahead of other cultures.

Analysis of this culture has shown that ancient Tiahuanacan scientists knew that the earth was a globe which rotated on its axis and they calculated exactly the times of eclipses not visible at Tiahuanaco but visible in the opposite hemisphere.

Scientists have also ascertained that the Tiahuanacans divided the circle mathematically into 264 degrees (rather than 360 as was initiated by the Babylonians); they determined the ratio of pi (22/7), and they could calculate squares (and hence, square roots).

[Left:] Entrance to the temple, showing the characteristic stone construction of the site. It was common for many huge, flat faced stones to be used to construct walls. Some of the stones show evidence of tooling that simply could not have been done with any known ancient technology. [Center] Carved stone block at Puma Punku. This precision-made 6 mm wide groove contains equidistant, drilled holes. It seems impossible that these highly precision cuts were made with use of stone or copper tools. The purpose of these alterations is not known, but it has been suggested that gold or bronze plates might have been affixed to the walls. Others suggest the giant stone blocks were locked together with metal. [Right:] Large idols were carved from single massive stones and appear to have been polished and finished by unknown methods.

The modular technique allows the blocks to be mass produced on site and assembled in a variety of configurations. This technique appears at Tiahuanaco fully developed with no prior evidence of experimentation. Where did the engineers of this era get their ideas or experience? Why is this the only example of modular construction in the ancient world? These are but some of the many questions remaining to be answered at this remarkable site.

[Stones were often secured to adjoining stones with metal "staples." Matching grooves were carved in the top of the stones as they lay side by side. Then, molten metal was poured and allowed to harden, securing the two stones together. This technique was also utilized in Egypt and in Southeast Asia.]

The fact that the culture of Tiahuanaco appeared fully developed in this high altitude, arid and inhospitable land is a real puzzle. Almost immediately they seem to have used advanced building techniques like modular construction. Huge blocks were carved from single stones and designed to fit together on the site with exact precision and artistic style. These techniques were only developed by modern builders in the last century. The massive blocks are extremely stable, resisting both time and earthquakes. But how were they made, transported and positioned, apparently by hand?

Tiahuanaco is located on the Southern shore of Lake Titicaca. Puma Punku 

How many people lived there?
The region was believed to have been populated by about 100,000 people at its peak. This estimate is based on the amount of pottery and other artifacts that remain and the total land area (more than 400 acres). Because this large population would require a significant food source, many scientists doubted that this was possible, especially at 13,000 feet. Thin air drops the ambient temperature to below freezing at night causing a frost that kills most plants. Recently, however, an aerial survey of the site revealed the solution. Multiple grid and maze like structures throughout Tiahuanaco, visible only because of the discoloration of the underlying soil, were discovered to be an ancient network of gardens and canals, capable of growing potatoes and other crops.

The plan was ingenious. Canals were placed in grids that surrounded the narrow gardens. The depth of these canals was kept to from 24 to 30 inches so that the strong daytime sunlight could easily warm the water. In the evening, when the frigid air caused frost, the canals vented their stored heat in the form of a fog. This kept the temperature around the plants elevated above freezing and also helped irrigate them.

It is interesting to note that the canals were constructed in a well planned and artistic pattern. This further indicated the intellect and aesthetic appreciation of this culture.

How old is this site?
The age of Tiahuanaco is difficult to assess and very controversial. Polish-born Bolivian archaeologist Arturo Posnansky has concluded that the Tiahuanaco culture began in the region at about 1600 B.C. and flourished until at least 1200 A.D. His disciple, Professor Hans Schindler-Bellamy, believed Tiahuanaco to have reached back 12,000 years before the present era, although a more conservative Peruvian archaeologist. More recently, other archaeologists have pushed back the date to an amazing 14,000 years ago.

There is also evidence that architectural structures exist at the bottom of Lake Titicaca, suggesting that the civilization existed before the lake was formed. Many scientists believe that the lake formed during some great flood and find similar legends around the world of a flood dating back thousands of years. The local legend contains reference to this flood in their creation myth.

The religion of Tiahuanaco centered around the cult of a sky and thunder god Viracocha. The deity was generally depicted as having staves in both of his hands and an aureole around his head. The aureole suggests the qualities of a sun god, represented on the bas-relief in the upper part of the famous Sun Gate in Tiahuanaco.

According to legend, the world was created by Viracocha near Lake Titicaca. After the great deluge or the receding of chaotic floodwaters Viracocha descended to earth and created plants, animals and men to the empty land; he built the city of Tiahuanaco and appointed 4 world rulers of whom Manco Capak became the superior of the Ursa Major world, i.e. the north horizon (Busto II 1981: 7).

The lake appears to lack a source, such as a river or stream, and there is proof that it is slowly evaporating and its shoreline receding with the passage of time. To date, there has been no satisfactory explanation of how the lake was formed in the first place. This is just one of many mysteries of the region and ranks Tiahuanaco as one of the top ten mysterious places on Earth.

Debate unfolds: Man or nature?

By James Janega |Tribune reporter

February 8, 2009

 

Underwater archeologist Mark Holley investigates a circle of stones on the Grand Traverse Bay floor near Traverse City, Mich. Scientists are not sure whether the stones were arranged by humans or natural forces. (Chris Doyal / February 7, 2009)

Vanished: A Pueblo Mystery

Perched on a lonesome bluff above the dusty San Pedro River, about 30 miles east of Tucson, the ancient stone ruin archaeologists call the Davis Ranch Site doesn’t seem to fit in. Staring back from the opposite bank, the tumbled walls of Reeve Ruin are just as surprising.

Some 700 years ago, as part of a vast migration, a people called the Anasazi, driven by God knows what, wandered from the north to form settlements like these, stamping the land with their own unique style.

“Salado polychrome,” says a visiting archaeologist turning over a shard of broken pottery. Reddish on the outside and patterned black and white on the inside, it stands out from the plainer ware made by the Hohokam, whose territory the wanderers had come to occupy.

These Anasazi newcomers — archaeologists have traced them to the mesas and canyons around Kayenta, Ariz., not far from the Hopi reservation — were distinctive in other ways. They liked to build with stone (the Hohokam used sticks and mud), and their kivas, like those they left in their homeland, are unmistakable: rectangular instead of round, with a stone bench along the inside perimeter, a central hearth and a sipapu, or spirit hole, symbolizing the passage through which the first people emerged from mother earth.

“You could move this up to Hopi and not tell the difference,” said John A. Ware, the archaeologist leading the field trip, as he examined a Davis Ranch kiva. Finding it down here is a little like stumbling across a pagoda on the African veldt.

For five days in late February, Dr. Ware, the director of the Amerind Foundation, an archaeological research center in Dragoon, Ariz., was host to 15 colleagues as they confronted the most vexing and persistent question in Southwestern archaeology: Why, in the late 13th century, did thousands of Anasazi abandon Kayenta, Mesa Verde and the other magnificent settlements of the Colorado Plateau and move south into Arizona and New Mexico?

Scientists once thought the answer lay in impersonal factors like the onset of a great drought or a little ice age. But as evidence accumulates, those explanations have come to seem too pat — and slavishly deterministic. Like people today, the Anasazi (or Ancient Puebloans, as they are increasingly called) were presumably complex beings with the ability to make decisions, good and bad, about how to react to a changing environment. They were not pawns but players in the game.

Looking beyond climate change, some archaeologists are studying the effects of warfare and the increasing complexity of Anasazi society. They are looking deeper into ancient artifacts and finding hints of an ideological struggle, clues to what was going through the Anasazi mind.

“The late 1200s was a time of substantial social, political and religious ferment and experimentation,” said William D. Lipe, an archaeologist at Washington State University.

“You can’t have a situation where it just happens that hundreds of local communities for their own individual, particularistic reasons decide to either die or get up and move,” Dr. Lipe said. “There had to be something general going on.”

When scientists examine the varying width of tree rings, they indeed see a pernicious dry spell gripping the Southwest during the last quarter of the 13th century, around the height of the abandonment. But there had been severe droughts before.

“Over all conditions were pretty darn bad in the 1200s,” said Timothy A. Kohler of Washington State University. “But they were not maybe all that worse than they were in the 900s, and yet some people hung on then.”

Even in the worst of times, major waterways kept flowing. “The Provo River didn’t dry up,” said James Allison, an archaeologist at Brigham Young University. “The San Juan River didn’t dry up.”

“Climate probably explains a lot,” Dr. Allison said. “But there are places where people could have stayed and farmed and chose not to.”

Some inhabitants left the relatively lush climes of what is now southern Colorado for the bone dry Hopi mesas. “Climate makes the most sense for this big pattern change,” Dr. Lipe said. “But then you think, So they went to Hopi to escape this?”

Hopi was far from an anomaly. “The whole abandonment of the Four Corners, at least in Arizona, is people moving to where it’s even worse,” said Jeffrey Dean, an archaeologist at the University of Arizona’s Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research.

Some archaeologists have proposed that colder weather contributed to the downfall. Measurements of the thickness of pollen layers, accumulating over decades on the bottom of lakes and bogs, suggest that growing seasons were becoming shorter. But even when paired with drought, the combination may have been less than a decisive blow.

Soon after the abandonment, the drought lifted. “The tree-ring reconstructions show that at 1300 to 1340 it was exceedingly wet,” said Larry Benson, a paleoclimatologist with the Arid Regions Climate Project of the United States Geological Survey. “If they’d just hung in there . . .”

Though the rains returned, the people never did.

“Why didn’t they come back?” said Catherine M. Cameron, an archaeologist at the University of Colorado. “Why didn’t anyone come back to the northern San Juan? It was a fine place, and apparently by 1300 it was very fine.”

In the remains of Sand Canyon Pueblo, in the Mesa Verde region, Kristin A. Kuckelman of the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in Cortez, Colo., sees the story of a tragic rise and fall. As crops withered, the inhabitants reverted from farming maize and domesticating turkeys to hunting and gathering. Defensive fortifications were erected to resist raiders.

The effort was futile. Villagers were scalped, dismembered, perhaps even eaten. Families were slain inside their dwellings, and the pueblo was burned and abandoned. Curiously, as was true throughout the region, the victors didn’t stay to occupy the conquered lands.

But violence was not always an obvious factor. Throwing a wrench into the theories were those curious wanderers from Kayenta. They thrived in their pueblos until about 1290 — some 15 years after the Great Drought began. And when they finally departed for the San Pedro Valley and other destinations, the evacuation was orderly.

“I don’t see any evidence of violence, cannibalism or even defensive posturing,” Dr. Dean said. “The abandonment seems to be different. You get lots of evidence that people intended to come back.”

At Kiet Siel, a cliff dwelling now part of Navajo National Monument in northeast Arizona, people sealed the openings of granaries with carefully fitted rock slabs, caulking the edges with a collar of clay. Finally the evacuees blocked the entranceway to the settlement with a large wooden beam.

“It’s pretty clear that these people weren’t freaking out or weren’t in a hurry when they left,” Dr. Dean said.

Ultimately the motivation for the abandonments may lie beyond fossils and artifacts, in the realm of ideology. Imagine trying to explain the 19th-century Mormon migration to Utah with only tree rings and pollen counts.

By studying changes in ceremonial architecture and pottery styles, Donna Glowacki, an archaeologist at the University of Notre Dame, is charting the rise of what may have been a new puebloan religion. For more than a century, the established faith was distinguished by multistory “great houses,” with small interior kivas, and by much larger “great kivas” — round, mostly subterranean and covered with a sturdy roof. Originating at Chaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico, the formidable temples seem designed to limit access to all but a priestly few.

Though Chaco declined as a regional religious center during the early 1100s, the same architecture spread to the Mesa Verde area. But by the mid 1200s, a different style was also taking hold, with plazas and kivas that were uncovered like amphitheaters — hints, perhaps, of a new openness. At some sites, serving bowls became larger and were frequently decorated with designs, as though intended for a ritual communion. If the pueblo people had left a written history perhaps we would read of the Anasazi equivalent of the Protestant reformation.

But the analogy can’t be pushed too far. The new architecture also included multiwalled edifices — some round, some D-shaped — that might have been chambers for secret rituals.

Though the dogma may be irrecoverable, Dr. Glowacki argues that it rapidly attracted adherents. A center of the movement, she said, was the McElmo Canyon area, west of Mesa Verde. Excavations indicate that the population burgeoned along with the new architecture. An influx of different pottery designs suggests immigrants from the west were moving in. Then around 1260, long before the drought, the residents began leaving the pueblo, perhaps spreading the new ideology.

Other archaeologists see evidence of an evangelical-like religion — the forerunner, perhaps, of the masked Kachina rituals, which still survive on the Hopi and Zuni reservations — appearing in the south and attracting the rebellious northerners. Salado polychrome pottery may have been emblematic of another, possibly overlapping cult.

In an effort to draw together the skein of causes and effects, Dr. Kohler and members of the Village Ecodynamics Project are collaborating with archaeologists at Crow Canyon on a computer simulation of population changes in southwest Colorado from 600 to around 1300. Juxtaposing data on rainfall, temperature, soil productivity, human metabolic needs and diet, gleaned from an analysis of trash heaps and human waste, the model suggests a sobering conclusion: As Anasazi society became more complex, it also became more fragile.

Corn was domesticated and then wild turkeys, an important protein source. With more to eat, the populations grew and aggregated into villages. Religious and political institutions sprung up.

When crops began dying and violence increased, the inhabitants clustered even closer. By the time the drought of 1275 hit, the Anasazi had become far more dependent on agriculture than during earlier droughts. And they had become more dependent on each other.

“You can’t easily peel off a lineage here and a lineage there and have them go their own way,” Dr. Kohler said. “These parts are no longer redundant. They’re part of an integrated whole.” Pull one thread and the whole culture unwinds.

Amid the swirl of competing explanations, one thing is clear: The pueblo people didn’t just dry up and blow away like so much parched corn. They restructured their societies, tried to adapt and when all else failed they moved on.